6 ms·

I believe this phenomenon is similar in other Turkish cities as well. After moving abroad from Ankara, I can say lack of stray cats/dogs on streets was very not

I believe this phenomenon is similar in other Turkish cities as well. After moving abroad from Ankara, I can say lack of stray cats/dogs on streets was very noticeable. I agree it doesn't have much to do with religion, IMO main two reasons are: 1) there doesn't seem to be any on-going effort to keep number of strays under control by the city. 2) many people feed strays as it's considered animal friendliness, often there will be at least one person in your neighbourhood who leaves food & water for animals. You might think it's nice to see a cat or two in the streets, though it can get a bit crazy when you see 5-6 big and aggressive dogs appear in your street every day because someone feeds them, yet complaining about this would be considered heartless, and it's very likely the local government won't do anything about it either. So, getting well fed and without any predators in a generally forgiving climate, strays easily get to survive and breed, and since neutering them all would be expensive and requires some level of organization from the state (which doesn't seem to happen) their numbers get to ever increase.

Florin_Andrei 6y ago
It's probably a cultural thing. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea, is culturally similar in some ways (religion obviously, but also beyond that; e.g. the language is similar) - and yes, there are tons of cats in that city. Or at least were, years ago when I visited. There was this inner courtyard somewhere, baking in the sun, with a huge pile of what we thought were dead cats. Like a rugby melee type of thing, but just laying down motionless. I mean, it was so hot we could not imagine how those critters could just lay there not moving. Then we noticed some of them were lazily moving their tails. They were not dead, they were sunbathing.
koboll 6y ago
>though it can get a bit crazy when you see 5-6 big and aggressive dogs appear in your street every day because someone feeds them Yeah, I got surrounded by a pack of 7 or 8 big dogs around dawn on the Golden Horn once. Was frantically swinging my backpack and screaming at them as they approached. After 30 seconds or so, a man noticed and threw some food to distract them so I could get away. They probably were just hoping I would feed them but it was still fucking terrifying. Felt like it activated some sort of primal fight-or-flight instinct passed down through millennia of humans being cornered by wolves.
- ulucs 6y ago
  Dealing with stray dogs isn't that difficult. They don't mess with you if they think you are more aggressive than them. Also keeping the dogs in a neighbourhood well-fed is quite easy and cheap. That will rule out any aggressiveness.
  - fakedang 6y ago
    I learnt this back when studying in my home country. As long as you bark back at them at a much louder voice, dogs will never attack you. But if you ever run away from them, they will chase behind you. Learnt it the hard way when I interrupted a fornication session between three strays.
    - MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
      God staredowns with dogs is always terrifying. Especially when I gotta go somewhere. Now I'm in a position where if I continue to leave, the dog thinks I'm a pussy and chases me. But I can't stand there all day playing chicken!
      - fakedang 6y ago
        Trust me, bark back at them in a voice louder than theirs and they will run away. Dogs are pack animals, so I think they fall for whoever is the more dominant one.
- herodoturtle 6y ago
  That is an epic experience that I'm sure you'll never forget! Love the way you wrote it too - especially the last sentence :)
mehrdadn 6y ago
> You might think it's nice to see a cat or two in the streets, though it can get a bit crazy when you see 5-6 big and aggressive dogs appear in your street every day because someone feeds them You can't just reason about cats by arguing about dogs. You might as well say the same thing about squirrels and raccoons at that point. I for one would think it's nice to see a stray cat or two (or six) in the streets, but I wouldn't want to see a stray dog. They're just different animals.

Florin_Andrei 6y ago

It's probably a cultural thing. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea, is culturally similar in some ways (religion obviously, but also beyond that; e.g. the language is similar) - and yes, there are tons of cats in that city. Or at least were, years ago when I visited. There was this inner courtyard somewhere, baking in the sun, with a huge pile of what we thought were dead cats. Like a rugby melee type of thing, but just laying down motionless. I mean, it was so hot we could not imagine how those critters could just lay there not moving. Then we noticed some of them were lazily moving their tails. They were not dead, they were sunbathing.

koboll 6y ago

>though it can get a bit crazy when you see 5-6 big and aggressive dogs appear in your street every day because someone feeds them Yeah, I got surrounded by a pack of 7 or 8 big dogs around dawn on the Golden Horn once. Was frantically swinging my backpack and screaming at them as they approached. After 30 seconds or so, a man noticed and threw some food to distract them so I could get away. They probably were just hoping I would feed them but it was still fucking terrifying. Felt like it activated some sort of primal fight-or-flight instinct passed down through millennia of humans being cornered by wolves.

ulucs 6y ago
Dealing with stray dogs isn't that difficult. They don't mess with you if they think you are more aggressive than them. Also keeping the dogs in a neighbourhood well-fed is quite easy and cheap. That will rule out any aggressiveness.
- fakedang 6y ago
  I learnt this back when studying in my home country. As long as you bark back at them at a much louder voice, dogs will never attack you. But if you ever run away from them, they will chase behind you. Learnt it the hard way when I interrupted a fornication session between three strays.
  - MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
    God staredowns with dogs is always terrifying. Especially when I gotta go somewhere. Now I'm in a position where if I continue to leave, the dog thinks I'm a pussy and chases me. But I can't stand there all day playing chicken!
    - fakedang 6y ago
      Trust me, bark back at them in a voice louder than theirs and they will run away. Dogs are pack animals, so I think they fall for whoever is the more dominant one.
herodoturtle 6y ago
That is an epic experience that I'm sure you'll never forget! Love the way you wrote it too - especially the last sentence :)

mehrdadn 6y ago

> You might think it's nice to see a cat or two in the streets, though it can get a bit crazy when you see 5-6 big and aggressive dogs appear in your street every day because someone feeds them You can't just reason about cats by arguing about dogs. You might as well say the same thing about squirrels and raccoons at that point. I for one would think it's nice to see a stray cat or two (or six) in the streets, but I wouldn't want to see a stray dog. They're just different animals.